United Kingdom Ambassador Daniel Pruce is saying goodbye to the Philippines, but he is taking with him fond memories of snorkeling, an impressive vocabulary of Filipino words and a pusPin (pusang Pinoy) named Lucy.

“Malaking karangalan para sa akin (It has been a great honor for me),” Pruce told Lifestyle in an interview. He was at his residence in Makati City, a few weeks before his flight back to the UK.

The veteran diplomat had come a long way before taking up residence in the country in August 2017. He had gone from the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999, to the de facto capital of the European Union (EU) in Brussels. He worked at 10 Downing Street as a member of the press team of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was posted to Bangkok and Madrid before finally landing in Manila.

“Never in my life have I ever experienced another country where people are so welcoming, so warm and friendly, so that is absolutely something we will miss when we leave,” Pruce said.

In his four years here, Pruce embraced his posting, learning and speaking Filipino phrases not just for the purpose of communication, but for understanding the culture of his temporary home.

‘Napakaganda’

“I think your wika is napakaganda (I think your language is very beautiful),” he said.

“Language reflects the way we see the world, so that is a great bonus for me, having a bit of an understanding of Tagalog. It has also enriched my understanding of how Filipinos see the world around,” he said. This rings true in his favorite word, takipsilim (twilight), because “it just seems to capture the feeling of that time.”

Asked how well he could understand the native tongue, Pruce said that watching an episode of “Ang Probinsyano” may be a bit of a stretch because of the slang in the dialogue.

“One can always do better, one can always practice more,” he added.

Pruce also opened his residence to Lucy, a calico cat that was rescued from the streets of McKinley and was nursed to health.

“She’ll be coming home with us, so we’ll have a little bit of feline Filipino connection that we will be taking home with us,” Pruce said.

The ambassador has been known to be a cat person, and his fondness for cats extended to the animals under the care of Cara Welfare Philippines. In a Facebook post from 2018, Cara said that Pruce and his wife, Rachael, hosted a benefit concert to raise funds for the organization.

Diversity and abundance

Pruce also made his way around the country in the past four years and picked up snorkeling in the process. He has since explored a turtle sanctuary in Dumaguete and Palawan.

“The diversity and the abundance of the wildlife and the birdlife here are just amazing, so we will certainly miss that,” Pruce said, adding that there may not be as many snorkeling opportunities in the UK.

Nature walks and adventures aside, the professional aspect of his diplomatic mission has also been incredibly rewarding, he said, from establishing a group of climate defenders ahead of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think first and foremost, in common with every embassy, every company, every government, we refocused our mission so that COVID-19 responses were at the center of everything we did,” he said.

The British Embassy undertook a Dunkirk-like effort to bring stranded tourists back home to the UK at the beginning of the lockdown in March—no easy feat considering that the tourists were scattered across the many destinations in the Philippines.

“That was a really complex operation involving ferries, boats, vehicles, all sorts of transports,” he said.

When the much awaited COVID-19 vaccines were finally ready after stages of clinical trials, the British Embassy helped the Philippines secure doses of hope in the form of shots developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The embassy also hosted online discussions to address vaccine hesitancy that was seen during the roll-out in the UK.

Health crisis

“I was absolutely determined to do everything to help the Philippines both deal with the health crisis, and also build toward vaccine procurement and eventual deployment. So one area where we were active as an embassy was supporting the government and other parties, LGUs (local government units) in their discussions with AstraZeneca,” Pruce said.

“I think, through the adversity of COVID-19, we have worked together in new and different ways. And so that partnership between us is richer and deeper than it has been before.”

While the pandemic kept the embassy busy, the mission still focused on its goals of building stronger partnerships with the Philippines through political and economic dialogues and defense cooperation.

The past four years were especially geared toward addressing the climate emergency and helping the Philippines—being highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change—find solutions and come up with strategies to achieve sustainability. The British Embassy has engaged with government agencies like the Department of Energy to transition to more renewable sources of energy.

“The breadth and activity and energy in the engagement here in the Philippines is just fantastic. Most notably, we have established a group of climate defenders, tagapagtanggol,” Pruce said. This group, which includes TV personality Kim Atienza, actor and philanthropist Angel Locsin and journalist Atom Araullo, is supporting a broader public debate to achieve a more sustainable planet.

Pruce said he is optimistic that the ties between the UK and the Philippines will move forward, thanks to the efforts of both governments, civil society and many other people. His successor, Laure Beaufils, and the British Embassy, will continue this mission, he said.

“Prospects in the future have been very positive. Alongside all of that, what has touched me personally has been the warmth and kindness and friendship of all the people in the Philippines that I’ve had the privilege to work with and get to know during this period,” Pruce said.

The British ambassador is leaving the country very soon. Where his next posting is still unknown, he said. For now, London’s calling.